Aliens: Pandora's Directive
by Dante-Raven
Summary: The crew of the Norman has stumbled on a liner gone adrift. Unfortunately for them, their hopes and dreams will land them on a routine mission gone wrong. Chapter 3 up...
1. Boarding

Aliens: Pandora's Directive

_Boarding_

As the _Norman_ made its way towards its prize, she couldn't help but breathe in the sight of the large cruise liner that lay adrift in space. Her hazel eyes shifted slightly, noticing some damage scoring along various parts of the ship-- mainly around the engine. Obviously it had several breaches in the hull. Only one thought occurred to the woman. _Firefight._ Someone, most likely pirates, had run into the luxury ship and had engaged in a firefight. In all likelihood, the pirates were killed. It was also the possibility that the pirates boarded the ship and took prisoners, among other things. For some reason, however, the cruiser now lay adrift. Edging the _Norman_ closer towards the vessel, she shifted the yoke and engaged the 'Autopilot' function. Moving out of her seat, Penny Fel walked towards her crew who gathered in the main hold. The _Norman_ was armed with unconventional weaponry similar to the former Weyland-Yutani colonial marine cruisers. In fact, the _Norman_ was a 20-year old de-commissioned colonial marine cruiser. Her crew gathered out towards a long table, where they were entertaining a late dinner.

At 43, her silver lined hair and slightly aged features had not diminished her beauty one bit. This was further proven from attempts local and military men made on her when her and her crew were planetside. Before she sat down, she glanced at her crew. There stood the tall and easily angered Alejandro "Al" Fuentes, the wiry and brilliant engineer/technician Jordan Frances, quiet and mysterious Liz Droma-- who happened to be the closest thing to a daughter for Penny, who never took the time to settle down and marry. The loss of Bryan was too fresh in her mind. The last time they were together, he had proposed to her and she accepted. Now he was gone, the last words he echoed still hung in the air. _I'm sorry I won't get to wake up beside you again_, he had said. As she continued to glance over the group of workers, she couldn't help but smile lightly at the people whom she had spent her time working with. They had chosen to live with her as salvagers, cargo-runners and anything else that happened to come their ways. They were as close to being freelancers as anyone would ever be. The others that were at the table were Geordie "Kit" Sharpe, John Beech, Robert "Bobby Dee" D'Angelo, Gabriel, Lyna Ta, Depa Bhora, Jace and the much older Logan Henessy-- the closest thing to a father Penny ever had. She had been nothing but a miscreant until he came along. That man had saved her when she ran into a group of guys who wanted more out of her than she wanted to give. He taught them a lesson and from her gratitude-- and through what she thought might have been pity-- he let her sign on to the crew. She had proven to be his successor and he was proud of her.

After another moment, it was Al who spoke up first. "So, Cap? What's the verdict?" The tall man had been the one who picked up the drifting ship on sensors and informed her. He of all people was excitably curious. This was to be his eighth salvage mission-- and personally, he had hoped to pick up a few souvenirs. "Well," the woman finally said after a few moments, "I think we have a go. No one switched on an emergency beacon, so it seems we're the only ones who have found it--and by that right, it's ours." _Ah yes, nothing like the salvagers' code_, she couldn't help but think. _Finders, Keepers._ Her 11 companions were eager to make their way towards the liner, especially after a few months of cruising through known space towards the colonies and other places. No one had any intention of heading off to Earth-- at least, not yet. "Since Mother wasn't able to connect with the _Rosedale_'s computer systems, we'll have to do this the hard way. We'll be taking the _Hagakure_ and Jordan will use his ingenuity to get into their docking bay."

* * *

After dinner, the crew moved towards the docking bay, loading their gear and other things for their wayward trip towards the liner. While Depa and Jace--in the exoskeleton power loaders-- were loading the crates on board the _Hagakure_, an older and slightly rustic lightcommercial freighter, Gabriel and Bobby were in the weapons lockers, checking the equipment and making sure everything was in working order. "So," Bobby Dee started to say as he noticed Gabriel slapping a magazine into the M41-A Pulse Rifle. "You're a marine, right?" Gabriel only nodded. "Well, I mean, you were a former colonial marine...right?" Gabriel looked up at the young man, his dark brown eyes burned through the soul of his energetic companion.

"Yes," he said. Gabriel resumed making sure his weapons were reading the bullets and made sure the grenade launchers were in working order-- it would be a shame if the gun would jam up in the middle of a firefight. Of course, it wouldn't be very likely that there would be a firefight, especially since the liner was a virtual ghostship. Still, one can never be too careful. After he had looked at the pulse rifles, he moved towards his personal favourite: the Shotgun. His raven-coloured hair split into a widow's peak, long enough to cover his eyes. Opening the jacket, he made sure the gun wasn't jammed and loaded several shells into it, closing it and cocking the gun. "Well, how did you get drummed out?" His companion continued to ask. Gabriel looked at the man again, who only shrugged and raised his eyebrows. "I'm only asking."

* * *

Penny sat near the command console with Logan, running a systems check while sipping her coffee. "You think it really is a liner?" She asked the older man. They had come out from some bad times and great times. He just smiled and shook his head. "No," he answered. "Did you ever stop to think about why a liner would be out in the middle of nowhere? The armament listing on that thing may say it's open to invitation or pirates, but I believe it has weapons mounted on the ship that do not show up. It's more likely a new type of military ship, a design I've never seen before." She nodded her head. That thought never crossed her mind. At least, not yet. "You think it's rigged for silent running?" Again, the old man shook his head. "I don't know. Whatever it is designed for, it certainly seems abandoned.now."

She sighed, "well, as long as we're on board, maybe we could find out." The older man nodded, looking out at the crew members running around, completing their errands while Logan and Penny continued their pre-flight prep for the _Hagakure_. He found it odd that the liner's computer had locked itself out and that their own computer system, Mother, couldn't link with it. Whatever problem it was, it just meant that everyone had to be their guard. He was thankful for Gabriel, the ex-marine who joined the salvage team. He was their newest addition, prior to the loss of Bryan.

Suddenly, there was a beeping sound. He looked at the command console. "We're ready to go," he said. She grunted. "Let's get this over with," she said to the old man, smiling softly.

* * *

Throwing on his chestplate armour, he holstered his pistol to his thigh. He strapped his extra clips on his belt pouch, grabbing hold of a pulse rifle and extra ammunition. Gabriel locked his shinpad armour in place and didn't feel the least bit constricted. This was one of the things he lived for. He looked at his 8 other comrades-- Logan would stay on the _Norman_ while Jordan and Kit would stay on board the _Hagakure_--, and he couldn't help but remember his days with the marines. Shaking his head, he left the locker room with his companions and made their way into the ship.

* * *

Piloting the _Hagakure_, Kit pulled the ship out of the _Norman_ and made its way to the _Rosedale_. As he made his way towards the liner's docking bay, Kit keyed several digits on the pad and controlled the pitch of the ship. The airlock doors opened and the ship made its way towards the docking pad. The ship docked and landed; the salvagers walked off the ramp as the ship's engines wound down.

"No liner looks like this," Al muttered under his breath. The interior docking pad looked austere, but the girders and ramps were more metallic and cold as opposed to fashionable and clear. Of course, the way they entered was through the service docking bay. "We have a job to do, people. Look alive," replied Penny. As the team walked towards the door, the only feeling that surrounded the group was cold, quiet death.


	2. Dream Catcher

_Dream Catcher_

"All right people," Penny spoke into the com, "we split up in threes and cover more ground. Gabriel, your team goes to the Armoury; Depa, you take Engineering and my team will go to the Bridge."

"Roger," came the stiff reply of Gabriel as he made his way towards the Armoury-- which would be hard to locate, since the entire ship had been running on emergency power for at least 8 hours. As his team left through a corridor, Depa took another direction while Penny took the most direct route to the bridge. There was only silence, except for the low hum of the engines.

Penny's group walked cautiously, wary to set off any remaining traps-- there had been a firefight around this area. As they began to tread carefully on the corridor, Penny signalled the group to stop as they noticed a large hole in the center of the walkway. Something had eaten through the walkway and could have presumably been the cause of the ship drifting in space. As she walked around it, she spoke into her com. "Pops, are you seeing this?"

The camera mounted on her shoulder pad of the light armour fed the image of a massive hole and a sickly yellow substance at its corner. Logan was on board the _Norman_, reading their camera feed, just like Jordan and Kit. He whistled, "well, I have no clue what the hell could have done that. We only read some minor breaches near the engine, where Depa's heading. But nothing like that. Although...Depa?"

"Yeah?" She called out through the com.

"I need you to look around for any minor breaches. Be careful, we did see lots of damage scoring around the ship. And I am reading the inital layout of the ship. Penny, be careful. There have been some deck breachers throughout the hull, but nothing where you're heading," The old man called out.

Smiling, Penny only replied, "no problem, Pops."

* * *

After reaching the bridge, Penny, Alejandro and Liz took control of the command consoles. The doors had been the hardest part of getting through. It appeared that this was everything they had ever dreamed of. "This is quite the catch," Al spoke up during the silence. "I mean, after this, we're all gonna be rich. We've made a fortune and all we have to do is override the system and pilot it back to known space."

"Not so fast. We have to watch over the prize and make sure it is worth it," replied Liz, not even glancing away from the screen as she patched in through her own terminal. "Whoa," she said, catching the attention of her friends.

"What is it?" The older woman asked.

"Umm.. this is a piece of work," the younger woman answered. "There are redundant security clearances. I don't think we stumbled on any liner, Penny. Even the bridge doesn't match the configuration. It's like, some sort of--"

"Battleship?" came a voice that interrupted them. They looked up and noticed that 7 marines--or pirates -- them surround with their weapons aimed at the group. "You are correct," came the voice again. Out of the shadows, a figure appeared. It was an older man that looked similar to one of their own. "Welcome aboard, Ms. Fel. I am Major Michael Hazel. I believe you know my son, Gabriel. Tell me, does he still have that pathetic arrow-head necklace?"

* * *

Depa walked towards the engineering section of the ship. The reactor had seemed to be running, but at a much slower pace than any reactor normally would. As she continued to walk towards a command console to check the status of the reactor-- really to see if their prize was damaged goods-- she stepped on an almost sticky resin-like substance. "What the hell?" She stepped back and noticed that the resin had gotten on to her boots. She turned around and saw that Jace had found it curious too.

"Depa, what the hell did you step in?" He laughed at her. "Hey John! Check this out! Depa just stepped on some guy's cu-- John? John!" He called out. As he turned around, John was nowhere to be found. Clicking into the com, he called out, "John, you there? Beech, are you there? Logan, can you locate him?" There was the sound of static, with a faint voice on it. "Logan, are you there?" Sighing, he looked at Depa, who only shook her head. She had tried the same thing and realized that there was nothing but static.

"I think it's the engine room or something that's blocking our transmission. To think, all of this technology and we still can't have a decent transmission. Hey, Penny, you there?" She called through the comlink. She shook her head and looked around. "I think we should go back the way we came. We gotta find John before he gets himself hurt." Jace only nodded.

As they began to walk towards the corridor they came from, they noticed a dripping substance as well as more sticky resin. "How come we didn't see that there before?" The young man asked, cautiously. As they continued walking towards it, Jace shone the light from their shoulder-mounted flashlight. It rvealed the reflection of the translucent substance. "What the hell secreted this?"

"I don't know," Depa said. She began to grow fearful. Something wasn't right. Their prize, the dreamship that could make them rich, was slowly changing into something else. Raising her rifle closer to her shoulder, she walked over to the resin and noticed a massive hole protruding from the floor panel. Something had just broken through it. As she walked closer towards it, she heard Jace grunt and heard his rifle clang to the ground. Spinning around, she noticed there was nothing behind her. Jace was nowhere to be found. "Jace?" She hissed silently. She spun around, the sounds of dripping were all around her. The reactor's low hum filled the background. Jace was nowhere to be found. She saw a mass concentration of dripping substance-- probably coolant-- and spun around, not hesitating to look elsewhere. As she began walking away from the engine room, she kept calling out, "Jace? Logan? Can anyone hear me?"

Suddenly, a shadow appeared. She glared the light at it, bringing her weapon to bear on it. There was nothing. As she began to walk towards the corridor, she felt something whip past her. She spun around, gasping at the sight of nothing. As she turned around, she saw a black reflection on her. Suddenly, it moved and picked her up. She was paralyzed with fear and turned around to run away. She found she couldn't move. There were three of them that picked her up and throughout the corridors, no one could hear the high-pitched scream that was Depa Bhora being pulled down through the broken hole of the floor panel.

* * *

He couldn't stop playing with his arrow-head necklace. It brought him back to the memories of Mandy. _Oh Mandy, how could something so simple have gone so wrong?_ He tucked it back into his shirt the moment Lyna broke through the Armoury's code panel with her hacking terminal. He slung his pulse rifle back and pulled out his pistol, switching off its safety in the same fluid movement as he continued walking into the room. Convinced that nothing hostile was in the room, he holstered his pistol, flicking the safety on. He looked around and found a payload that would had Bobby whooping.

"Oh sweet! I mean, we've got like, uh, thousands' worth of weaponry and ammo. This is like a dream come true!" he exclaimed. Obviously the man was excited. Gabriel continued looking around. He found several sentry gun placements, plenty of ammunition, cartons of M40 grenades as well as several pulse rifles, shotguns and even the M56 smartgun.

"Something's not right," he said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Lyna asked the ex-marine. He seemed perfectly calm and yet she knew that there was something cryptic about his tone.

"This is definitely no liner," he explained. "No liner has this kind of weaponry nor does it all stay in one place in a situation like this. This is more like a battleship. But there is no one on board. Lock and load, we gotta get out of here." He turned to face the excited young man, whose expression went sour and edgy when he realized the serious tone creeping into the voice of Gabriel. "We have to go, now. Something isn't right and this ship is certainly no dream come true."

"Oh you gotta be shitting me, Gabriel. You're a former marine. This Armoury is like a dream come true for your kind. This ship is our dream come true, we're gonna rake in millions."

"I wouldn't know anything about dreams, I only have nightmares. This ship is a tomb. Now let's go." His tone was cold and his expression was stern.

"Now, wait a minute. We're not in the military here, you got that trooper? Now stop with this bullshit and stop freaking Lyna out."

"Is that so? I am in charge of this group. Trust me, our salvage will still be here, but it's worth nothing to us if I am right. You're coming with us. Lyna," Gabriel turned around and saw the young woman's expression was fearful. "Lyna," he said once more, this time very cautiously. "I need you to get on the com, and call Penny and let them know we gotta get outta here. I'll inform Kit and Jordan to prep the ship, ok? Can you do that for me?"

She nodded, silent and fearful. "Bobby, he's right. There's nobody on this ship, except for us. I think it is better we go. Something doesn't feel right."

"Oh there's nobody on the ship, except for us, huh? Well guess what, this is what we do. Shit, Gabriel, look what you've just done. Fucking cryptic shit, as always," the man said. He pulled out a cigarette and popped it into his lips. As he began to reach into his pocket for a lighter, he felt a rush of cool air whip right past his mouth, snatching his cigarette away. "What the fuck?"

"We're in an armoury. Don't smoke in here, numbnuts, or you'll find yourself floating home." Gabriel handed him the cigarette from his hand.

"Well thanks-a-fucking-much," the annoyed man said. He took his cigarette and walked out of the Armoury.

Lyna continued on the com while Bobby Dee was smoking outside of the Armoury. Gabriel was comming Kit, informing him to be wary and get ready to prep for dustoff, in case something goes wrong. No one could get a hold of Logan. Depa's group had also stopped responding. "Gabriel," she called out to the ex-marine. "Something's wrong. Penny's not responding. And neither is Depa's group."

He looked at her. He nodded grimly, "I can't get a hold of Logan. We'll make for the bridge and grab Penny-- hopefully Depa's group is doing the same thing. They probably have a dead com unit or there is a lot more interference here."

"Yeah," she said, not entirely sure that she believed the ex.marine.

As the group started walking out, Bobby just looked at Gabriel, who locked up the Armoury, while taking extra ammunition. "Tell me something, Gabe," he said, as he caught several extra pulse rifle magazines. "You ever have one of those dream catchers when you were younger?"

Not looking at the slightly older man, he replied. "Yeah. Once, when I was 12. I had nightmares for a week before I decided to throw it away."

"Oh," he said, before pulling another drag on his cigarette.

"You?"

Exhaling, he looked at Gabriel and smiled. "Yeah, me too. But I didn't have nightmares. I had dreams I was rich and knee-deep in naked women."

"Ahem," Lyna coughed as she continued walking through the corridors with the 2 men.

"Oh, uh, sorry there, Lyn."

The trio continued walking through the corridors, eager to get to a lift to carry them to the bridge.


	3. In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream

_In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream_

Penny sat on the ground, her hands were bound. Liz and Alejandro were tied and bound as well. The Major had jammed communications on the ship. Logan, Kit and Jordan had no clue what was happening. She continued to look around, noticing that the marines were nervous. Something had certainly gone wrong. After a few minutes more, she finally spoke up. "What's going on? I thought this was a liner."

The Major looked at her. He scoffed, "of course it is a liner. There was a full crew here. There were a few hundred passengers too."

"Then what's going on?" She asked.

"There was an engine failure, we had to evacuate the passengers. I elected to remain behind with my group, secure the damage."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Oh?" He said. His expression was humourous. "Well if you don't want to believe it, then that's your choice. I, on the other hand, know what happened."

She was silent. There had been no word from Depa, Gabriel or anyone else. Her only thought was that they might be dead. Caught by more marines. It didn't seem likely though. The marines-- and the Major-- didn't want to leave the bridge for a moment. Something else was going on here. Something beyond their own control. After another moment, she decided to say something. "I detected no engine failure, Major. Something's gone wrong, hasn't it?"

The older man looked at her. "It's not your concern."

"Oh, I'd beg to differ," she said. "We thought the ship was abandoned. We came to salvage it and we find you here. You don't want to leave the con, so tell me, what is wrong? I have others on this ship and they may be in danger."

"Well, Penny-- can I call you that?-- , you see, everyone who is on the bridge, is _my _concern. Now, your crew that are gallivanting on the decks of this ship are probably long gone now. So get over it."

She locked her eyes with his. Their icy glares continued for a moment until a loud beeping came. The motion detectors were picking up 3 forms moving towards the bridge. The beeping became more constant, the trio of something was making its way towards the door. Suddenly, there came a bang at the door. Something was at the door and hitting it incredibly hard. Dents were being made.

Large dents that no human could have done.

Those doors were iron.

"What the hell is that!" She yelled.

The marines brought their pulse rifles to point at the door. The Major picked up his own pulse rifle and aimed it at the door. The banging stopped suddenly. The beeping had stopped as well. The motion detector picked up nothing.

"Kowalski," the Major said calmly. "You have any reading?"

The young man walked up to the door, aiming his electronic device in its direction. "Nothing, sir," he said stiffly. As soon as the young man had finished that sentence, there came three more blips on the motion tracker. "I am picking up three of them. Uh, 10 metres, 9, 8...7." As soon as he said that, the beeping stopped. They were at the door. There was no impact. Suddenly, a shot rang out.

"What the hell?" One of the marines called out.

"Stow it, trooper," The Major commanded.

There was no sound. Suddenly, someone on the other side swore.

"Fuck! What the hell _is_ that!"

"Shut up, Bob," came another voice. "Whatever it is, it's certainly dead."

"Yeah, your shotgun saw to that," Bobby snorted.

"Open the door, Lyna. Whatever else tries to come here, we'll take care of it," came the calm voice again. A shotgun cocked and an empty shell landed on the grid floor.

Immediately, the door opened and Lyna came face to face with several pulse rifles.

"Stand down," an older man barked. "They're with Ms. Fel."

"Dad?" A confused expression lit up on the ex-marine's face. "What are you doing here?"

"You're a bright boy, Gabriel, take a wild guess." The Major turned around and began to bark orders. "Untie Ms. Fel and her people. We're leaving and from this point on, no one is left behind."

After she was untied, Penny and the others made their way to Gabriel, curious to look behind them and see what had melted a huge portion of the floor.

"What was that?" She asked the former marine.

"I don't know. Whatever it was—"

"Consider it a liability we do not want to take with us, Ms. Fel. From this point on, you do not ask any questions. We're leaving. Where is your ship?"

Her ire now fully risen, Penny gazed fiercely into the eyes of the hard-as-nails Major. "You want to get out of here? Then you will answer my questions, otherwise you will find yourself floating home."

The Major, slightly aggravated, nodded and forced a smile. "Very well, ma'am, I'll indulge your questions."

"Good." She gathered her belongings and looked at the military commander. "What's going on?"

He sighed, bringing his index finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose, pinching it for a few moments before he let go and explained it. "This ship was carrying specimens from another planet—a crash site that was found on a colony planet that had been destroyed. These are—well—_extra_-terrestrials. They're unlike anything we've ever encountered. They're strong, aggressive and perfect for the Company."

"And they got loose," Penny filled in.

He nodded.

"And now you've got a ship filled with these things. So what happened to the passengers?"

"Some have disappeared into the depths of the ship—most likely to the engineering reactor room where the Queen is laying her eggs."

"There's a _what_?" Bobby cocked his rifle. "What the hell do you mean there's a 'Queen?'" He glanced at Gabriel who sighed visibly.

"These are alien species that use us as hosts for their eggs," the Major continued undaunted. "Now, we've lost too many of our folks and most of them have probably been cocooned. There's nothing we can do except to leave the ship and blow it up from the outside."

Penny sighed, running a hand through her hair. "And we just happen to come along and this is just perfect." She looked at Gabriel, who maintained his stoic expression.

"What do you think, Gabe?"

He shrugged. "I guess we're better off running for our lives and hoping that we make it to the ship."

"And the others?"

"Forget them, Ms. Fel," the Major cut in. "They're already gone."

She sighed and faced Lyna. "Call up Logan and tell him to load the weapons bay on the _Norman_." She turned to Liz and then said, "tell Kit to prep the _Hagakure_ for dust-off. We're getting off this deathtrap."

"Kit's ready," Gabriel interjected, catching the attention of his father and Penny. "We commed him before we made our way to the bridge."

Penny nodded, grateful that the former marine had taken up the initiative. He had made things a lot easier since his arrival.

Gabriel paid little to no attention to his father, who merely responded in kind. The former marine looked at his comrades and nodded to Penny.

"Let's go," she said, inhaling deeply and hoping that they would find the others out of harm's way.

* * *

The group raced through the annals of the ship, picking up no sign of Depa and the others. They reached towards the hallways of the turbolifts, hoping to catch one of them or failing that, to find another access to the hangar. 

It became apparent that nothing worked and that most power had dropped to minimal in the vessel. Gabriel continued to tap away at the control panel, hoping to activate the turbolift, but to no avail. He sighed and turned to face the group, who seemed to pale at the thought of being trapped on a ship of horrors with no means of escape.

The Major glanced at a pair of his marines and nodded towards the elevator, causing them to brush past Gabriel, none too gently.

The former marine took it all in stride and stepped back, though his grip tightened on his pulse rifle and eagerly hoped that they would trip up.

Unfortunately, one of the marines, Kowalski, had gotten it working and soon enough a lift was already on its way.

Penny glanced at Gabriel and she inhaled sharply. _This had better work out,_ she couldn't help but muse as her grip tightened on the rifle Gabriel had acquired for her.

"There," the Major acknowledged, smiling with a hint of pride as he made his way to the lift's doors that were beginning to open. "This mutual alliance will all be of benefit to us. My boys can do their job while yours can sit there and provide the transport" Before he could even finish his sentence, he witnessed a pair of large, black talon-shaped hands reach out from the darkness and grab hold of Kowalski's partner.

Kowalski managed to barely notice it in time, as he jumped and rolled away, listening to his partner scream as he was dragged back inside.

Gabriel pulled up his rifle to point at the alien, only to have the Major brush the barrel to face the ceiling.

"Stop," he ordered quietly, not even noticing that only Gabriel and he were standing closest to the lift, while everyone had gone several feet away from it.

The soldier screamed as he was pulled into the tunnel and his echo rang out on deaf ears.

"There's nothing you could have done that wouldn't have blasted us all out of the hull, if you fired."

It was then that Gabriel noticed the weary lines in his father and that the lift hadn't actually come until after the doors closed again and reopened after a few more moments.

Even then, they were reluctant to take it and waited for another one.

As the second one arrived, Gabriel and Kowalski carefully ensured that it had come and there were no breaches in it.

After a few more minutes of cajoling Lyna into the lift, they quickly and quietly made their descent to the upper decks.


End file.
